Former 'Family Affair' child actor Johnny Whitaker now has the role of a lifetime

The burly man with graying red hair introduced himself as John Whitaker, a certified counselor at the Tarzana Treatment Centers and a leader in other San Fernando Valley-based anti-substance-abuse organizations.

Chatting about his volunteer work on the Los Angeles County homeless count one night last week, Whitaker revealed his more famous persona only after he was asked: "So, what's your story?"

Whitaker's reply began matter-of-factly: "Well, I grew up in San Fernando, I was a child actor ..."

Forty years ago, the boy known as Johnny Whitaker had one of the most famous freckled faces in Hollywood, playing Jody on the popular sitcom "Family Affair" from 1966 to 1971 and Tom Sawyer in a 1973 movie.

The CBS-TV show was in the Nielsen ratings' top five for three years. But the years that followed weren't as kind to its stars.

Actress Anissa Jones, who portrayed Jody's twin sister Buffy, died of a drug overdose at age 18 in 1976. Actor Brian Keith, who played Uncle Bill, reluctant guardian of the orphaned children, fought cancer and committed suicide at age 75 in 1997.

And Johnny Whitaker fell into drug and alcohol abuse for nine years before an intervention led him to a 12-step program. He said he has been clean and sober for 13 years.

He lives in Santa Clarita now and works to help substance abusers at the Tarzana Treatment Centers, as San Fernando Valley liaison for the addiction-recovery program AWARE, and as founder of the nonprofit organization Paso Por Paso (Step By Step).

"He uses his celebrity in a positive way, and I don't see a lot of celebrities doing the same thing," said Hank Seiden, director of business development for Tarzana Treatment Centers. "He's learned to live with (his past) and adjust and help others.

"It's not coming (in a speech) from the stage of the Oscars. It's coming from real life, and that's very valuable."

Liam Williams, a Tarzana patient who helped with the homeless count, brightened at the mention of Whitaker.

"Jody?" Williams said with a grin. "The first time I met him, they said he was a movie star, and I was given a couple of minutes to guess who.

"I figured it out," Williams said.

Whitaker tells his story easily but doesn't force it on people.

"When I can further a cause, I'll say, `Johnny Whitaker is calling,' instead of `John,"' he said. "If they don't recognize the name, I'm not offended.

"If you're under 35, you may not know who I am."

Whitaker was asked what he would like people to know about the later life of the red-haired, blue-eyed 6-year-old of "Family Affair's" first season.

"First of all, I'm still alive," he said. "Some people think I was the one who passed away."

Whitaker's is not the typical story of a fallen child star.

In a 1987 Daily News interview, he described how Jones' death had scared him, and he asked his agent to ease up on entertainment work so he could enjoy "regular" teenage life at Sylmar High School. A former teacher told the newspaper: "He didn't drink, he didn't smoke and he didn't do drugs."

Whitaker went on a Mormon mission to Portugal for two years, graduated from Brigham Young University, and married a Reseda woman.

But when the marriage broke up after three years, the trauma changed him.

"I decided to go to the dark side," Whitaker said, his voice deepening dramatically at the end of the phrase, as he walked in Canoga Park late one night last week, helping with the Los Angeles County homeless count. "I made a conscious decision that being a goody two-shoes had gotten me nowhere."

Whitaker abused drugs for most of the next decade, usually cocaine. "I lost two apartments and three jobs," he said.

His family pushed him to get help and he was one of the lucky ones, he said. "I got it on the first try (at rehabilitation)."

His experiences have taught him that success comes in different forms.

Whitaker spoke of his father, John Orson Whitaker Sr., who taught at Pacoima High School for 32 years.

"(He was) one of the most successful men I know," Whitaker said. "Not because of wealth or fame, but because he lived his life of 79 years in service to the community, to his God and to my mother and their children."

Whitaker still takes occasional turns at acting, and speaks fondly of his old friends from TV and movies. Kathy Garver, who played older sister Cissy in "Family Affair," is 65, lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and continues to act.

He likes to point out that he gave Academy Award winner Jodie Foster her first on-screen kiss. (He sees the humor.)

That seems like a different life, he said.

"I look at this as my destiny," Whitaker said of his current efforts to help addicts.

"I am not ashamed of my celebrity. I have not always made the right choices in my life, but everything happens for a reason."